FOX is not actually a team sponsor, they work with Aaron directly, hence they were not included in the team announcement. And for the record, proof-reading a press release would not involve adding a name to a list of sponsors...

This is the case of getting enough speed, not the size of the gap. And if some of the fastest racers in the world have issues getting speed, you think it would be otherwise for Fest people? The run ins at Fest are all smooth and clean. Not the case here. All the top 80 racers could clear any gap at Fest any time. Not sure if the guys from Fest would make the cut in the finals at a World Cup. Though, I have full respect and apreciation for both of them. The gaps aren't babies, and it's not about teaching. It's apples and oranges. Cheers

Kind of ironic coming from a guy who criticized another poster in the 2013 Test Sessions Knolly Chilcotin review by saying "let's not get butt hurt because the review isn't exactly the same as how you feel about the bike."

I assure you that there are no biases toward the big boys vs the little guys. Vital has featured many very positive reviews of boutique brands, advertiser or not, including a handful of bikes made by Pivot.

There are a few distinctions that you should be aware of between the reviews. For starters, the Trek was reviewed by our 6'2" and 6'5" tall riders (as is clearly stated). The Pivot by our 5'8" and 5'10" testers. We do our best to tell you about each of the test riders in detail, something you won't find many other places. We list their height, weight, riding styles, and more. All so that you can better determine whether their experiences might mimic your own.

To clarify, regardless of the stem you put on a bike, the Reach measurement does not change. It's the horizontal distance between the center of the BB and the center of the top of the headtube. The size Large Pivot is very short - it's actually shorter than all 15 other men's bikes in our Test Sessions roundup, several of which are Mediums. The Trek has a much longer front center, somewhere near the top when comparing it to similarly sized bikes in the 160mm travel range.

Our testers will swap cockpit components as needed to improve the fit/feel of the bike, but also comment on the stock setup as well. Some bikes ride terribly with the stock stuff and are greatly improved with a wider/shorter combo. Others work well. For the tall guys, Trek's 750mm bar is far from ideal, and the 70mm stem doesn't quite align with the bike's capabilities. For the average height guys, Pivot's 755mm bar worked just fine, as did the slightly shorter 60mm stem. This is stated in both reviews. The M6 is a great bike in many respects, and we clearly describe where it excels.

Our ratings consider many factors, including value, price, build spec, geometry, weight, construction, how it climbs, how it descends, how it sprints, how it pumps, how it jumps, how the suspension performs, where it excels, where it doesn't, the little details, etc... The list is pretty exhaustive actually.

While it's easy to say that a bike review should just focus on the frame, there is so much more to how a bike rides than that. The suspension, tires, wheels, etc all come into play in a big way. Some companies do a great job with their builds, others overlook minor details that can end up having a big impact on the ride quality. If you're spending your money on it, don't you wan't to know how those things perform? In an ideal world we'd test all bikes with the exact same components and tire pressures, but that's just not how they're sold. They're each a sum of their parts, for better or worse.

Call me boring, unimaginative, even parochial, but I have grand designs on riding trails in Europe, Africa, the Himalaya, South America, Canada and NZ on my bucket list. This is of course an entirely subjective opinion, but the locations listed hardly smack of grandeur or legend. I want to read about or watch videos of impressive riding in unimaginable scenery to feature on a bucket list. No offence but listing those locations is like having Top Gear review a 1987 Toyota Corolla. How about an article featuring some of the most coveted trails on each continent? Tell you what, get the readers of Vital to post up a video of their fav trail in their own country, get them whittled down to the top 10 for each continent then I will spend the whole of 2015 visiting, riding and reviewing them. I'm open to sponsorship offers and endorsements bike companies!!!!

Ugh. This looks terrible. If you wanna carry a bottle why not get get a bottle cage. Or I dunno just wear a better fitting hydro pack. I never notice mine when I am riding. Also, why is this called "Forget the Pack". Aren't they really saying forget the pack you already have and come buy our weird under garment pack thing instead? Finally if you wanna tuck your bottle (who still uses water bottles anyway?) into your shirt how about you just use an xc jersey. Lord know you don't care about the way you look if your on the trail tucking water bottles in to your shorts.

Hey Scott - I'm 30 years old and used to live in Utah, I've been to the old site and have walked around it. I have followed Rampage from the first year they did it when I was a senior in high school. I've been riding mountain bikes since 1996 and I'm not a hack... well I'm still a hack.

I just don't want the wood features to become a slippery slope and are required to hit to win (regardless of what the judges say). Also I'd hate it if riders felt that they needed to hit any of them to even podium. In addition I wouldn't like to see an increasing number of wood features be added year over year. I think this could funnel people to certain zones and limit creativity of line choice which from what I understand is the spirit of the event. Opinions not bitchiness. I'm very grateful for Rampage and everyone/everything that takes to put on a great event.